Raa Atoll

Raa Atoll, known locally as Maalhosmadulu Uthuruburi (Northern Maalhosmadulu Atoll), lies in the north of the Maldives. Its capital is Ungoofaaru. As an administrative division it takes in the natural atoll of Northern Maalhosmadulu proper together with the separate island of Dhuvaafaru, and it has more populated islands than any other atoll in the country.

The natural atoll stretches about 35 miles from north to south and up to 15 miles across at its widest. Its western edge is lined with rounded reefs known as farus, while the interior lagoon is scattered with coral patches called giri, some submerged and some breaking the surface. These are especially dense towards the south-west, near Kandholhudhu Island, in what is described as the most reef-crowded stretch of water in the whole Maldives, whereas the atoll's narrower northern end is largely clear of reefs. Lagoon depths generally run between 23 and 27 fathoms. To the north, the islands of Alifushi and Etthingili sit apart on their own detached reef, separated from the main atoll by very deep, unsounded water. South of the atoll, the Moresby Channel (Hanikandu) divides it from the atoll beyond, named after the surveyor Robert Moresby, who charted the Maldivian atolls.

The population history of Raa Atoll has involved a good deal of movement between islands. Eighteen islands were inhabited by 1942, falling to seventeen by 1968 as residents were relocated. Ufulandhoo's people moved to Alifushi and later to Maduvvari; Kudafushi was abandoned after wartime food shortages, with its people resettled on Meedhoo, Ufulandhoo and Maduvvari. In the early 1990s, the residents of Ugulu and Gaaudoodhoo relocated to Hulhudhuffaaru because of a difficult lagoon and overcrowding. More recently, after the 2004 tsunami left Kandholhudhoo uninhabitable, its people were resettled on the newly built island of Dhuvaafaru, with many living temporarily in Ungoofaaru while it was under construction. Alifushi, at the northern end of the atoll, has long been known for skilled boatbuilders and today houses shipyards.

Raa Atoll was closed to tourism until government policy changed in the late 1990s. Its resort islands are Loama Maamigili and Meedhupparu.